Darkness Awakens
by BigShogun1192
Summary: The evil demon Reborn has returned to Earth after untold years in an otherworldly prison! Can the Z-fighters prevail over such a nightmarish foe? Rated M just to be safe...
1. Touchdown

**Summary:** the evil demon Reborn, who was imprisoned millions of years ago in an otherworld prison has broken free and now seeks to destroy all of mankind just for fun.

**Author's Notes:** remember the summary throughout the story, cause I am not doing it for each chapter. And yes, I **did** write this on my own.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragon Ball, Z, or GT and I am merely borrowing these ideas from Akira Toriyama..sorry Mr. Toriyama..

--

King Yemma was filing a hopelessly endless stream of paperwork, admitting souls into the cleanser and purely evil ones to hell. He was bored out of his mind, like usual, and stamped another file and thus admitted yet another soul to the cleanser. 

However, today would be different from any other.

"King Yemma! We have a situation." One of the aides shouted above the commotion of the admittance office.

"Can't you see that I'm busy ogre? Can't you come back later?"

"It's about Reborn."

At the mention of the name, Yemma stopped his hand in midair and his eyes froze.

"What about that guy?"

"We…don't know where he is." The ogre said, fearing Yemma's wrath. 

But Yemma merely swallowed trying to keep his mouth moist and asked for water. He hurried through the paperwork while telepathically trying to contact Goku.

--

A horned creature, about ten feet in height, and pale blue in skin hue hopped up and down on his toes in the middle of a busy intersection. Muscles rippled with perfection everywhere on his body and his face was generally featureless save for dark red eyes. He wore the garments of one who had been in prison all of their life: torn rags and chains.

Cars were forced to yell at him by their arrogant drivers and pedestrians on the street simply gawked at him. The sudden appearance of the strange thing, a sudden flash, sparked interest in their minds as well as primordial fear of the supernatural. He stopped hopping and stood on both feet, eyeing the most arrogant of the drivers with poisonous glares. They all stopped pounding their horns and yelling curses immediately.

He raised an index finger and a small spark came to life upon his black fingernail. Aiming it at the sky, the spark became a miniscule ray and from there, it burst into a cloud in the sky. People were perplexed by the show, but then things took a turn for the worse.

The creature opened its lips, which were tightly sealed and gave the illusion of a lack of a mouth, and cracked a smile full of black teeth, fossilized by the millions of years they had been stuck in the mouth of an ageless evil. The creature pointed to the ground and the cloud burst into a shower of pointed glasslike weapons that pierced through steel, stone, and even flesh, detonating after reaching a target and creating a horrific show of carnage. Through all of the destruction, the creature smiled and began laughing as if it was some sort of sick, twisted game of life and death.

"It's good to be back." It said through its black teeth, chuckling deeply and with a maniacal undertone.

"The age of humankind is done! The time of Reborn is nigh!" it added, raising its arms into the air and laughing at full insanity.


	2. And the Skies Shall Burn

Yemma was having a fit: souls were flocking in by the thousands and he had barely enough willpower to keep himself focused on the paperwork with Reborn running amok on Earth. 

"Damn it all! How did he escape!" he bellowed fiercely.

"We don't know sir, he couldv'e just broken out I mean he is a powerful demon after all."

"Don't give me that crap! I've been trying to contact Goku but these souls and their paperwork are driving me insane! Send someone over to Heaven and get Goku down there!"

"Y-Y-Yes sir!" the ogre said, making a hasty salute before hurrying to Heaven.

The creature known as Reborn had just turned another city once bustling with people and sounds of traffic into a smoldering pile of ash and charred bones when he flew off to another, enjoying the smell of burnt flesh that mingled with the scent of fear he knew so well.

"Ah, I can tell I'm going to enjoy this." He said to himself, chuckling as he stripped the last bit of flesh from a bone, dropping it to the ground below.

"Humans are so easy to kill…and so damn tasty…" Reborn licked his lips, thinking of his next meal. 

Surrounded by a teal aura, Reborn laughed maniacally as he closed in on another city.

_"Everyone is advised to stay in underground shelters or that of a neighbor, friend, or family member. Transportation in cars, trains, planes, or other motorized vehicle is strictly unadvised."_

Vegeta inadvertently crushed another remote control in his hand listening to the news. Bulma just sighed.

"Who does this guy think he is? Cell? I'm not standing for this!" Vegeta said, getting to his feet.

"Dad, I just saw the news. Is mom alright with us leaving?" Trunks said, popping out of his bedroom, already getting on old clothes he didn't mind getting dirty.

Vegeta looked at his wife and she sighed again, saying "Go on," in response.

In a flash they were gone out the front door and from the lawn.

"Mr. Goku! There's an immediate situation that King Yemma wants you to adhere to!" the ogre yelled, looking up in a tree.

"I know, ogre. I know," Goku said, leaping from limb to ground in an instant. "I just wanted to see what he would do if I let him go crazy. Frankly, I'm not happy with his decision. But I'm really excited about fighting such a strong guy after so long!"

At the mention of Goku's "excitement", the ogre fell down, struck by Goku's childish behavior like a mallet.

"Um, ogre? Are you okay?" Goku asked, worriedly watching over his visitor. 


	3. The First Hour

Reborn blasted another human through the chest with an energy ray, watching the others run away screaming as he gnawed on a bone. The surrounding buildings were aflame and not even the torrential rains could put them all out, as Reborn would simply start them again.

Breaking the bone with his teeth, Reborn descended to the ground. He began to laugh, seeing people try to run away and he pointed a glowing finger to the sky, attempting to recreate the carnage at his arrival point. However, a fist came across his face, wiping the smile from his lips and the spark of energy from his fingertip.

A man clad in blue with white gloves and boots stood a few yards from Reborn. His hair was bright yellow, almost glowing, and he seemed to be radiating energy. Another, younger man came up on the opposite side, also having glowing blonde hair and the same, but slightly weaker, aura as the other one. Both were far more muscular than any human Reborn had encountered and he smiled thinking of how strong either of them could be if the first one could make him stop from killing.

"And to whom do I owe this pleasure of such strange visitors?" the demon asked, trying to pull off a gentlemanly demeanor.

"You owe nothing to me, save your life. My name is Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans." The first replied.

"And I'm his son, Trunks." The second added.

Crossing his arms, Reborn shut his eyes and began to smile, causing confusion among his guests. "And I suppose you want my name now?"

"Not really, I just want to fight and kill you!" Vegeta replied.

Opening one eye at Vegeta, Reborn bared his teeth and vanished, leaving his targets baffled. He suddenly reappeared and kicked Vegeta's spine, making Vegeta gag on his own scream trying to ignore the pain. Trunks teleported behind Reborn and tried to blast him, but Reborn wheeled around, grabbed Trunks's shirt, and rammed his own forehead into the boy's, making a gaping wound.

Vegeta blasted Reborn from behind with a volley of energy attacks, but Reborn simply walked through the resulting smoke, ignoring the balls of concentrated Ki like they were flies. Taking a step forward, Reborn left an afterimage in his hurry and appeared again directly in front of Vegeta, his hand primed for an impaling maneuver.

Vegeta narrowly dodged the attack, having his shoulder impaled instead of his chest, and yelled in agony as Reborn repeatedly beat his fist into Vegeta's midsection, pulverizing the Saiyan's innards. However, Trunks had recovered and grabbed Reborn by the neck in a headlock. After prying the demon from his father, Trunks began kneeing the demon in his spine with painful force.

But, much to both Saiyans' surprise, Reborn turned his head around 180 degrees and blasted an energy ray point-blank in Trunks's face from his mouth, sending the youth into a building littered with broken glass and cracked concrete.

Vegeta achieved Super Saiyan Level 2 while his son was causing the distraction and he managed to surprise Reborn by elbowing the demon in his stomach. Reborn gagged on his own cry of pain and clutched his gut. Vegeta kneed the demon's chin, sending him spinning in midair, and punched his spine, making Reborn bend his back at nearly a 90-degree angle in order to compensate for the pain.

"Die you bastard! No one comes to my world and kills people just to lure me out for a crappy fight! Big Bang Attack!"

At the mention of the three words, a ball of blue-white energy formed behind Reborn and actually lifted him from Vegeta's palm. After a battle yell, Vegeta let the orb go into the sky, the demon with it, and watched with glee as it ferociously exploded, making the black stormy sky light up for an instant.

Trunks climbed from the building Reborn had launched him into and put a hand on his father's shoulder only to be shrugged off. He was used to this kind of treatment however and smiled. But, his eyes froze on a sight he would like to have not seen.

"F-Father…" he said with terror in his voice.

"What, boy?" Vegeta asked, still annoyed at the lack of a good fight.

Trunks just managed to point a shaky finger at the top of a roof and his father followed the trajectory until his eyes met with the same horrific sight as his son's.

"What will you do now…boy?" Reborn said, crushing a skull under his foot with his arms crossed, a black-toothed grin spread wide across his face and clean of any scratch or wound. It was like he hadn't even been affected by Vegeta's attack.

The Saiyans gaped in horror as their foe pointed to the sky, his fingertip glowing with purple sparks.


	4. Why He's Called Reborn

"Trunks, get out of here."

"But father, I –"

"Obey your old man, boy and get out of here! Make sure Bulma's okay and get her to a safe place! Now!"

Trunks nodded and flew off. Reborn followed the youth with his eyes and pointed his sparkling finger at him.

"We don't want anyone to leave the party early now, do we?"

The spark almost became a beam, but Vegeta stepped in and punched Reborn in the face, making him lose concentration and misfire the beam at a building, which made it disappear in a column of flame.

"You want to die first, eh?"

"I'm not the one who's going to die!" Vegeta yelled a battle cry he knew only from instinct and began to plow fist after fist into Reborn's flesh at high speeds. 

He kneed the demon in the chin and gave chase, blasting Reborn with massive volleys of Ki, creating a huge cloud of dust and smoke. However, Reborn appeared from behind and kicked the back of Vegeta's collarbone, making the Saiyan plummet to the ground. Vegeta caught himself and landed on the ground on all fours and narrowly dodged a would-be fatal blow from Reborn, whose fist was well inside the rocky flesh of the Earth.

The demon pulled it out with little difficulty and disappeared, leaving an afterimage in his wake. Vegeta narrowly dodged a point-blank blast of Ki from the demon as he reappeared a few feet in front of him and threw at ball of highly concentrated Ki at the demon, teleporting away as the ensuing explosion consumed a good square mileage of the area.

Panting for breath, Vegeta loosened his posture, frowning in annoyance. Reborn still lived, floating on a cloud of Ki in the center of an immense crater. Gritting his teeth in anger, Vegeta charged at the demon, his fist pulled back for a mighty blow, but Reborn teleported in front of the Saiyan and kneed him in the gut, making Vegeta gag on his own blood. Making a hammer from both fists, Reborn knocked Vegeta back to Earth, but he teleported and reached the ground before the Saiyan, extending an arm.

He caught Vegeta's face like a baseball and formed a ball of Ki in his palm, releasing it in the Saiyan's face. Still holding onto Vegeta by the skull, Reborn threw punches and knees into the Saiyan's already-bleeding internal organs. After Vegeta had stopped squirming, Reborn threw his target into the air, teleported, and deliberately aimed his forehead at Vegeta's, chuckling at the resulting sound, a sickening crack, which he somehow found beautiful. However, as the demon was preparing to slam another hammer into Vegeta's back, the Saiyan knocked his fist into Reborn's throat, making him gag as his Adam's apple shifted position.

Vegeta licked the blood from his lips and smiled.

"It's been a long time since I've had this much fun." He said in a joking manner.

"And it's been a long time since I've had to transform."

At the mere word "transform", Vegeta's eyes froze. He would become even more horrified when Reborn stiffened his fingers and thrust them into his chest, ripping out his own heart, still beating, and squeezing it until it popped.

"What the hell! Are you insane!" Vegeta yelled after Reborn crushed his own heart.

"You'll just have to wait and see…GUH!" Reborn's corpse continued to float, resisting the gravitational pull that other dead bodies embraced.

Vegeta stayed still, eyeing the corpse suspiciously. Suddenly, it burst to life, or rather a seizure of insane jerks and gestures. Reborn's body became larger, in height and muscle mass, and he grew a crown of bludgeoning spikes that replaced his previous bull-like horn structure. Two new arms burst from the light blue flesh under his old ones and all four had hands large enough to easily grasp the skull of even the largest Saiyans. Suddenly his seizure stopped and he jerked his head forward, revealing the face of a madman, with a black-toothed grin and dark red eyes full of lust for blood. 

"What…what happened?" Vegeta asked, dumbfounded.

"Why the hell do you think they call me 'Reborn'? Every time I die…I come back to life ten times stronger!"

Reborn began to laugh maniacally, more so than usual, and Vegeta could feel his blood freeze.


	5. Fall

Vegeta, before he could even think, found himself with Reborn's fist in his gut, straining the tendons of his inner organs to their limits. Straining to even groan in agony, Vegeta clutched his stomach and doubled over in a midair fetal position. Reborn hammered Vegeta with his lower set of arms and the Saiyan barely hit the ground when Reborn had all four arms crossed and his feet firmly planted on his spine, making the vertebrae plead for mercy.

Vegeta blanked out for a moment, his eyes white with agony, as Reborn plucked him up with one of his lower arms and tossed him into the air, giving chase at remarkable speed. He rammed his shoulder into Vegeta's tortured back and the Saiyan sparked back to life, screaming in pain as his eyes became green again. 

Reborn made a U-turn while in flight and just as he was nearing the ground with Vegeta still yelling in agony, he stopped and let Vegeta plummet on ahead. He teleported ahead of the Saiyan and the demon caught Vegeta on his fist, which was now covered in blood from Vegeta's gaping wound on his stomach.

Reborn opened an upper arm and fired a point-blank energy ball, sending Vegeta barreling into the concrete face of a building. Vegeta's body plummeted through the concrete and through the other side. He felt virtually nothing, not even the hand on his ankle that stopped him from falling to the cement streets below. 

"Not in the mood to play anymore? Vegeta?"

No answer.

"Hm, looks like I had too much fun with him. Must've broken something–"

A Ki ball detonated on the demon's face and although it was somewhat distracting, Vegeta couldn't escape from Reborn's grasp like he had planned. Reborn lifted Vegeta so that his face met with his and bared his teeth in a sadistic grin. Opening his mouth, he sank his teeth into Vegeta's shoulder and tore a portion of flesh and skin from the Saiyan, spitting out the bloody clothing as he pulled back to chew.

"Insane…insane bastard…" Vegeta said after he was done screaming.

"We just met, how do you know so much about me?"

Vegeta fell unconscious as Reborn finished talking. The demon dropped the Saiyan to the street, which was about a ten foot drop, and spat out his snack. 

"Disgusting, he looks so much like a human yet he tastes rancid."

However, just as he was leaving, a green man wearing a white cape and turban strolled out of nowhere.

"I hope you've enjoyed your last meal, Reborn." He said


	6. Fear

The green man tossed off his cape and turban, the articles of clothing falling to the ground with a crash. 

"My name is Piccolo and I'm not to be taken lightly."

"Hm…I've never tasted green humans before…"

"I'm not a human." Piccolo said, smiling.

Both vanished, appearing at random locations in the sky, blocking the other's attacks with one of their own. Piccolo managed to dodge a fist-hammer and teleported behind Reborn. Piccolo thrust his elbow into the demon's skull, but Reborn shook off the impact of the blow and grabbed Piccolo's ankles with his lower set of arms. Flipping Piccolo over, he grabbed his foe's wrists, making Piccolo virtually incapacitated. 

Charging a Ki blast in his mouth, Reborn suddenly found his mouth tightly shut when Piccolo struck the demon in the face with the back of his head. Reborn swallowed his Ki and released Piccolo, favoring his hands to quell his burning stomach.

After the pause, Reborn and Piccolo continued to fight, with the latter laying more blows on his foe, but Reborn was the one who actually caused notable damage. After nearly puncturing Piccolo's gut with a powerful fist, Reborn lifted Piccolo by the wrists and beat his foe within inches of death with rapid-fire punches from his lower set of arms that didn't allow any time for Piccolo's Namekian heritage to heal the wounds inflicted from the previous blows.

Reborn stopped his onslaught and thrust his forehead into Piccolo's, opening a fleshy gash where it had impacted. He let go of the Namekian and watched him as he fell to the ground. But, Piccolo regained balance, landed on all fours, and pounced back up at his foe, his mouth agape and ready for an energy blast.

Reborn pointed a sparkling finger at the Namekian and the two rays collided in frighteningly close quarters. Piccolo could feel his mouth burn and he had to abort the beam struggle, teleporting away as Reborn's attack consumed his and sent the lethal combination into the horizon, resulting in an immense explosion.

Thinking he had won, Reborn let his guard down, but only for an instant. Piccolo elbowed the demon's throat, but Reborn grabbed Piccolo's chest and fired a blast of Ki into the Namekian, sending him plummeting to the ground clad in a burning gi. Breathing heavily, Piccolo watched as his foe descended, all four arms crossed arrogantly. Reborn landed on a hill of slag, created from Vegeta's attack from before, and wore a frown, an expression he wore almost none of the time.

_"This is ridiculous, he's just been toying with me up until now and I think he's done playing…that bastard! Why didn't Vegeta finish him off when he had the chance?" _Piccolo thought, trying to form a plan as well.

"I'm getting bored with this game, Piccolo, was it? I'm not going to transform and humiliate you like that disgusting human over there," Reborn said, pointing to Vegeta. "I'm just going to actually try and fight you."

_"This guy can't tell that Vegeta's a Saiyan? That means he can't sense Ki!"_

"Die, green man."

Reborn vanished and tried to break Piccolo's skull with an elbow, but Piccolo dodged and fired a massive wave of Ki at the demon, causing a huge cloud of smoke. Just as Piccolo had predicted, Reborn was oblivious to his Ki and the Namekian stayed outside the perimeter of the column of smoke, firing Ki blasts into it at random locations, in an attempt to confuse Reborn so that he could finish him off in a melee assault.

"Why are you shooting at that cloud?"

Piccolo's blood froze.

"I'm aware that I can't sense Ki, but what I lack in sensing ability I make up for with extremely powerful hearing, sight, and smell. I heard you fire the Ki blasts from outside the smoke, so I teleported away, knowing you wouldn't follow me being so preoccupied with your plan. This is where it ends, green man."

Grabbed Piccolo's entire skull in one arm, Reborn used the remaining three arms to fire a trio of simultaneous Ki blasts that made Piccolo's body into a bloody wreck. Releasing the Namekian, Reborn watched with a smile on his face as Piccolo plummeted to the ground. However, he teleported and appeared underneath his foe, an arm primed to impale.

Piccolo's flesh was easily ruptured by Reborn's spear-like arm. Resting at mid-forearm, Piccolo's eyes were white like a corpse's and Reborn smiled as he backhanded Piccolo's limp body, sending it off his arm and into a pile of smoldering rubble.


	7. Annihilation

**Summary:** Reborn just keeps getting stronger! Goku arrives and the fighting gets intense!

**Author's Notes: **Getting slightly better at writing and even remembered to include these things (yay me!)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragon Ball, Z, or GT and I apologize if Akira Toriyama is reading this…because he'll probably sue me…

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"Hey King Yemma! How's it going?" Goku asked, waving a hand at the giant, who was getting cramps from doing paperwork so fast.

"Just get down to Earth and stop that guy! I have no time for chit-chat!" Yemma answered, obviously angry that Goku was wasting so much time.

Goku smiled, put his index and middle fingers to his forehead and vanished.

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Reborn blocked a double-fisted blow from Vegeta and punched the Saiyan in the stomach, hard. Vegeta vomited blood and his eyes went blank from pain. Piccolo tried to fire a Makankosappo at the demon, but instead struck an afterimage, the beam going into the distance and consuming a mountain in a column of flame. Reborn reappeared above the Namekian and struck an elbow into the green man's skull, making Piccolo plummet to the ground.

Piccolo regained his balance and watched as Vegeta tried to fight Reborn again, but was met with the same fate as the Namekian: a soft bed of slag. Vegeta raised himself to his knees, resisting the urge to fall on his face by supporting himself with his arms.

"This is insane! How do we beat this guy? We just get our asses kicked every damn time we try!!" Vegeta yelled, beating the ground with his fists to work out his growing frustration.

"Vegeta, I have an idea, but it'll involve having you not be such an arrogant bastard."

"Shove it Namekian, just tell me your plan."

Reborn, meanwhile, was on top of a slag hill, hopping up and down using minute blasts of Ki from his feet. A restless expression was on his face and all four arms were crossed.

"Ready?" Piccolo asked his apparent fighting partner.

"Just do it already." The Saiyan replied.

"Alright on the count of three; one, two, th–"

"Three!" Vegeta interrupted, charging at full speed at the demon.

Piccolo followed, at a lesser speed, but only to deteriorate Reborn's focus. The two broke formation, Piccolo to the left and Vegeta to the right, and then they sped up enough to leave afterimages. Soon Reborn was surrounded by hazy images of his foes and he kept watch of all the afterimages, eyeing them carefully.

However, the real Piccolo and Vegeta were above the demon, each primed to unleash a powerful Ki blast. Piccolo released another Makankosappo and Vegeta put his wrists together, yelling "Final Flash" as an immense bright yellow Ki came from his hands at great force.

Reborn, noticing a change in light intensity, looked above him to find the Ki blasts coming straight at him and with seemingly no escape in sight. However, he raised an arm and out of his palm came a huge blast of purple Ki that swallowed the other two blasts and, to Vegeta and Piccolo's shock, separated into two Ki rays that came straight at them. 

Vegeta narrowly dodged his using his physique, but Piccolo had to use the propulsion of a Ki blast to evade his. Both of Reborn's Ki blasts went off into the distance, causing gargantuan explosions that consumed hills and mountains in columns of fire and energy.

While Vegeta and Piccolo were gawking at how narrowly they had evaded Death however, Reborn grabbed each of their ankles in a set of hands and slammed the two's bodies together, causing a sickening crack between foreheads and ribs. Both Vegeta and Piccolo released blood from their mouths and Reborn tossed them to the ground like they were twigs. 

Both made imprints in the slag once called West City and both wore the expressions of corpses.

Reborn aimed a hand at each of them; the top set of his arms crossed, and fired a purple blast of Ki for both the Saiyan and the Namekian. As the blasts came closer, Vegeta fought back tears, making himself think that he had done poorly at protecting his family as he looked at his wounds. However, this was not true. 

However, a small beam of blue energy defused the two greater ones, the latter dissipating into nothingness. Reborn shifted his gaze to a man with a strange hairstyle, garbed in orange and blue gi with a halo over his head. He held a frown on his face and both fists were clenched tightly. 

"You did this to my friends? You really must be strong," The man's frown became a smirk. "But I can't allow you to do this to anyone else."

"And just who the hell are you? Another moth to the flame?"

"Nope, just your average Earthling. My name's Goku."

"Then you'll taste wonderful…"

"Wha-What did you just say?"

But before he received an answer, Reborn's teeth were already in Goku's shoulder, his ancient teeth sinking to his bone like his flesh was wet tissue paper. Between Goku's screams of agony he laid blows on the demon, but to no avail. Reborn lifted Goku off the ground and violently thrashed him around while holding onto him simply using his mouth. Releasing him, or rather losing grip of him when Goku's flesh tore, Reborn chewed on his snack and swallowed.

"Not bad." He said, criticizing his meal.

"No wonder Yemma locked you up! You're insane!" Goku yelled, gripping his wound.

"Insane? That's a compliment to me!!"

Reborn let a massive surge of his Ki spill from his body, making the slag field once known as West City shake violently. Goku unleashed his Ki as well, his hair turning upright and bright blonde. His eyes changed from black to green and his aura went from blue to gold.

"You'll pay for all the lives you've taken and hurt!"

"And you'll pay for getting in my way!!"

The two charged at each other, each yelling an instinctive battle cry.


	8. Another Rebirth

Raining blows down on the other like hot lightning from an angry sky, Goku and Reborn fought like they hated each other in a past life. Spamming Ki blasts when forced apart by the impact of a stronger punch or kick, they would hit the other with furious force, but the victim would just come back strong and the melee would continue ferociously, almost like animals.

Keeping their eyes on the other like hawks, they matched blow-for-blow and their knuckles bled from misuse, their blood making slapping sounds as their fight pressed on. Reborn had thought he had the advantage with two more limbs than his opponent, but Goku proved to be agile enough to block all six and still find enough footing to launch offensive attacks. 

Finally, the two settled down on opposing hills of slag, regaining breath, but only for the moment. Afterwards, they simply fought on the ground, using their Ki to reinforce blows in place of using it to fly. The mere impact of their attacks on the other's flesh brought up mountains of slag and earth as the Ki traveled through the flesh and ruptured the earth. Quakes and tremors were common during the battle and even the skies were silent as the fight progressed, intensifying with each passing moment.

Goku finally managed to stun his foe with a kneeing maneuver that made sickening cracks as it made contact with Reborn's gut. The Saiyan charged a Ki blast, bluish-white in color, and fired it point-blank at Reborn's face, shouting "Kamehameha!!" as he did so. However, even though the demon was sent a charred and burned mess into the black sky, he regained balance, used the ground for a jump-start, and forced slag and rock into an oblong hill as he forced his muscles to contract and launched himself at incredible speeds at his foe.

Goku's face contorted in shock as Reborn's steel-hard cranium crashed into his, making a gash in his forehead that seeped with blood. Somehow regaining balance, Goku returned the favor by ramming his own head into Reborn's stomach, making the demon choke as Goku's rock-hard skull connected with his tortured ribs. Goku raised a fist and slammed it into Reborn's side, forcing the other to do the same, until he managed to lift Reborn off his skull with the force of his blows.

Soon, Goku juggled Reborn in midair with punches that landed into the demon's gut with furious power. With a last blow, Goku lifted Reborn into the air long enough to bring his legs up and force them into the demon's neck, making Reborn plummet to the ground. Reborn regained balance and bared his teeth, now stained with crimson blood, only to find Goku in his face, yelling a battle cry as he forced his elbow into the demon's head, making Reborn fall the few remaining feet to the ground with immense force. The ground under the demon cracked as Goku flew into the air and charged another bluish-white Ki blast.

However, Reborn recovered far faster than Goku expected and he raised a huge aura of purple Ki before charging at the Saiyan with frightening speed. Goku released his Ki blast too late and it barreled into the horizon as Reborn came up behind the Saiyan and slammed both feet into Goku's back, making the Saiyan plummet a few hundred yards, but he regained balance before too long. Turning around, Goku searched for his foe, but found him when he felt a huge fist nearly rip through his midsection.

Reborn's upper left fist was nearly inside Goku's stomach, making the Saiyan vomit blood. The demon hammered Goku's back with his lower set of arms and Goku fell to the ground with a crash, making slabs of rock jut out resulting in huge tremors and the cry of Mother Earth as she felt her face fall apart.

Reborn aimed an immense volley of Ki blasts at his enemy, but Goku vanished as they neared him and reappeared behind Reborn, a third bluish-white Ki blast in his hands. This time, Reborn was caught off guard and had only time to put up his four arms as a shield before Goku unleashed the blast, consuming the demon in a column of white-hot flame and heat.

However, as the blast came to an end, Goku watched in terror as Reborn, only several hundred yards away, merely pushed back by the point-blank attack, stared at him with spiteful eyes and a heavy frown on his face. 

Reborn teleported behind the Saiyan, but Goku predicted such a move and punched the demon in the chest with more force than he wanted to. Hearing loud cracking sounds, Goku slammed his boots into Reborn's neck again, but heard no sound from the demon, not even a grunt of pain. Reborn plummeted noiselessly into the ground, making an imprint in the earth. 

Goku smiled to himself, thinking he had killed him for good. But, just to be safe, he approached the demon still at Super Saiyan Level 2. Reborn stirred, but as Goku readied himself for an attack, the demon vomited blood, quelling any suspicion in the Saiyan's heart. 

However, that feeling of easiness quickly disappeared as Reborn's body erupted into a fit of seizures. His body violently shook as it changed shape again, this time becoming thinner and shorter, about seven feet in height. The crown of spikes fell from the demon's head and his arms remained four, with five black claws on each hand for nails. Reborn raised himself from the impact zone, a frown on his face. Obviously this form was much more serious. He was generally humanoid, save for the four arms, the light blue skin, black fossilized teeth, and dark red eyes.

_"His Ki is overwhelming, I can hardly breathe…"_ Goku thought, struggling for air amidst the fog of Ki that radiated from his foe. 

"Let's play a little game, Goku…it's one of my favorites…"

"What's it called?"

"Life…" Reborn trailed off.

Suddenly, Goku clutched his stomach, his eyes white with agony. Reborn had his back facing Goku's, whereas an instant ago he was facing the Saiyan. The demon's left fist was coated with a fresh coat of Saiyan blood.

"…And Death…"


	9. As Saiyans They Stand

**Warning:** blood and _very_ heavy sadism on Reborn's part. If you don't like that kind of stuff, **DO NOT** read any further

A smile crept to the demon's lips, his black teeth gleaming with evil intent. He had just ripped open Goku's right side, which had been transformed into an uncontrollable mass of blood and gore. The Saiyan sunk to a knee, gripping the wound with enormous pressure just in an effort to control the bleeding. Reborn raised his fist to his lips and a forked tongue slithered from in-between his teeth, lapping up the blood on his knuckles with sadistic glee.

"Mmm…like a fine wine, your blood is…I can't wait to savor every last drop I drain from your body…"

Goku was too delirious to notice what the demon had said. The immense drop in blood was making his thoughts hazy and foggy. Soon he felt himself holding his body up with an arm. Reborn cocked his head backwards, noticing Goku's predicament.

"And I'm betting that that moment isn't far away…"

The demon grabbed Goku by the hair and lifted him with one arm. Slapping the Saiyan's hand from his wound, Reborn thrust his fist into the fleshy mass, driving the Saiyan to insanity from pain. Retracting his fist, Reborn licked the blood from his skin.

"Just one more morsel…and I'll kill you…"

Reborn primed his hand to impale Goku's wound, but a boot connected with his face, making him drop the Saiyan to the ground. The demon quickly regained balance and watched as Vegeta raised his fists into a battle stance, surprisingly clean of battle wounds. But he quickly shifted his gaze to the green man, feeding Goku some sort of pill.

"Here, Goku, it's a Senzu bean, eat…" the green man called Piccolo said, holding the Saiyan up so he could swallow. Piccolo was also surprisingly clean of any wounds he had previously possessed.

Goku, much to Reborn's shock, regained his strength and his wound vanished. The Saiyan rose to his feet and came beside Vegeta.

"Just what the fuck is going on? I had both of you in a pile of rubble and so beaten neither of you could move!"

Piccolo answered, "That thing I gave Goku was called a Senzu bean. They restore a fighter's full power and physical condition. Unfortunately those three were the only ones I had."

Reborn popped a vein on his forehead and his teeth groaned as the demon threatened to break them in his mouth from his growing rage.

"FINE!! I'LL JUST BEAT YOU ALL TO PULP AGAIN!!" the demon screamed, charging at the three with lethal intent.

Vegeta was the first to break formation, followed shortly by Piccolo. Goku stayed a while longer and engaged Reborn in melee combat, which he was ill-prepared for even at Super Saiyan Level 2. Reborn was much faster than before and was making pockmarks and bruises all over the Saiyan's body, causing minor fractures in his skin within seconds.

However, Piccolo stepped in-between Reborn and Goku and fired a Ki blast from his mouth at the demon. But Reborn took it as nothing and reached through the perimeter of the blast and slammed his fist into Piccolo's forehead, causing the Namekian to black out and lose all concentration needed to keep up the energy blast.

Vegeta, after witnessing Piccolo's momentary defeat, came from behind Reborn and tried to hammer him with his fists clasped together, but Reborn somehow melted away like some kind of liquid and came up behind the Saiyan, taking Vegeta down with a fist-hammer of his own.

Goku took a running start and kneed Reborn in the chin, but the demon backhanded the Saiyan in the neck, making Goku crash into the ground. However, before Reborn could focus back on Vegeta, Piccolo came out of nowhere and blasted Reborn's midsection with a point-blank Ki blast. The demon grunted as the blast caused minor burns, but he thrust his knee into Piccolo's gut, causing the Namekian great pain before Reborn punched him in the face, causing Piccolo to careen into a hillside.

Vegeta meanwhile tried to engage Reborn in melee combat, but after a few seconds of fairly contending with the demon, Reborn caught both of Vegeta's wrists and ankles, opening his mouth for a Ki attack.

Goku suddenly appeared and elbowed Reborn's cranium, shutting his mouth in the process and deactivating the Ki blast. Reborn released Vegeta's wrists, wheeled around, and slammed Vegeta into Goku, laughing at the sickening crack their skulls made.

The two Saiyans plummeted into a scorched building and out the other side onto a slag hill.

"Gah! Kakarot! I think that thing broke my nose on your head! What's your skull made of?" Vegeta yelled, gripping his nose as it seeped with blood.

"Bone, I guess, but this is getting ridiculous…this guy's just too strong!"

"Congratulations Einstein! I've known that for a couple of hours now and you've just fucking figured that out?"

"Calm down Vegeta, now's not the time to be getting angry." Goku said, seeing Reborn break his way through the building they had just been knocked through. The demon smiled as it collapsed behind him.

"Who's angry? I'm not! I'm pissed off!!" Vegeta, ignoring the sharp pain in his nose, charged at the demon with the intent to kill, his fist raised to strike.

"VEGETA!!"

Reborn smiled, blocking a fist, then a kick, then hundreds of random blows he seemed to predict on the spot. Vegeta finally pulled back for a last strike, this time making his target in Reborn's mouth, trying the break the jaw. However, Reborn smiled as the fist sunk into his cheek. With a returning blow, the demon sent Vegeta straight back into the exact spot the Saiyan landed from his earlier attack.

"Any more bright ideas?" Goku asked, offering Vegeta a hand.

"Shove it up your ass Kakarot!" Vegeta replied as he slapped the hand away.

"We have to use the Fusion technique."

"Oh, not that again…"

"It's out only chance."

"For once I'd like to win a fight by _not_ using that embarrassing dance! I've looked on that computer Bulma keeps in our bedroom and do you know how many stories they have of us…having…relations?"

"What?"

"Yes, they're called fan-fictions. Trunks is writing a lot of them about an anime he likes called Bleach. It's mortifying…"

Reborn stopped walking and stood still, his hands at his sides, and a frown on his face.

"We'll talk about this later Vegeta! There're more important things going on!"

"Whatever!"

Vegeta and Goku took fighting stances and Reborn looked at them with eyes drowned in hate.

"No more talking…more fighting…NOW!!"

Suddenly, the demon disappeared and the two Saiyans instantaneously and simultaneously had their stomachs nearly ripped out by two of Reborn's furious clenched fists, pulsating with popping veins and rushing blood.


	10. Morlun

The demon's low, frustrated growl suddenly turned into a maniacal battle cry, as his fists became open hands filled with lethal amounts of Ki. Releasing the energy into the two Saiyans, Reborn sent Goku and Vegeta flying away into the face of a mountain of slag that used to be a towering building.

Making fine imprints in the mountainous heap, like they were attempting to form snow-angels, the Saiyans tried to pry themselves loose from the blackened mound and retaliate, but the demon appeared in front of them before either could react. Reborn thrust two fists in each Saiyan, trying to force every ounce of life out of them in the form of pain or agony. Vegeta's eyes went blank and Goku vomited blood.

"Boring, boring, boring!! Fight me!! Fight me now!!"

The demon backed away and opened his mouth primed for an energy blast. The Saiyans formed Ki blasts of their own and the three rays clashed, making an immense display of lights and sparks. Reborn smirked and teleported away, leaving the Ki struggle to the Saiyans. Goku and Vegeta teleported to the ground, and, upon feeling solid earth beneath them, felt rejuvenated.

"We need a plan, Vegeta, it's obvious we can't take him head-on."

The Prince just smiled. "I guess I've proven that ineffective, haven't I?"

Goku returned the grin. "I guess so. Now, just where is that guy?"

"I have a name you know…" the chilling voice that had momentarily become that of a madman moments earlier came from behind the Saiyans.

"You can refrain from calling me 'that guy' and address me by my name. I am Reborn, but you can just call me 'executioner'."

"Look Reborn, why are you doing all of this? These people didn't harm you so why kill them?!" Goku shouted, taking a battle stance in case his speech didn't work.

"Why stand in my way? What will that accomplish?" Reborn took a step toward the Saiyans, who tightened their fighting stances. A smile crept to the demon's lips. "I see you're just as jittery as the rest of them," a chuckle, "but I guess I can answer your question without doing anything obscure. You see, long before you kids were even conceived by the stars, I was imprisoned in one of Yemma's top prisons for what I have already done here: have a bit of fun."

"Fun?! Is killing innocent people fun to you?! You're more sick than I thought!" Goku shouted letting his angers best him.

The demon just smiled wider. "That's what I'd expect of you, Mr. Hero: the speech and wag-of-the-finger. But if you were imprisoned for millions of years, enough time for your teeth to fossilize and your mind to go wandering into places it shouldn't, then come back and tell me about what's right and wrong!! I'm just trying to take out an eon's-worth of my time out of this hellhole's lifespan and if you can't see that as what I can…" Reborn's smile grew wider than it had ever been and he crooned his neck. "Then I suppose you should die alongside these fuckers you hold so dear to your aching heart…"

"What did you get us into this time Kakarot?!" Vegeta hissed.

"To be honest Vegeta, I have no clue."

Reborn took an obscure battle stance: his legs were spread wide apart and his arms were tucked at his ribs. Veins popped out as the demon's Ki spiked.

"This is bad…" Goku stammered.

"You think?!" Vegeta replied, frustrated at his fighting partner.

Reborn dropped to his knees and clasped his head with his upper pair of arms, the lower set shriveling up and cracking off. He grew bulkier as opposed to his previously lean and thin form and his light blue skin became blood red. His eyes, once crimson, grew into a pale shade of white, like a corpse. Dark blue, almost black, patches of an armor-like substance covered his groin and hips, his shins, forearms, and feet, making a form of boot from the skeletal mass.

His horns snapped off, leaving a bald scalp that was soon also armored with a patch of the dark blue bone. After his Ki had settled, Reborn stood and raised himself to full height.

"I am no longer the creature known as Reborn, but a being without comprehension of remorse or sympathy. What you had just witnessed was a transformation of the creature known as Reborn into myself, a process in which the forgotten souls of those he had slain finally broke into the eaves of his mind and created me as a mere byproduct."

"So what _can_ we call you?" Vegeta asked with an arrogant undertone.

Vegeta suddenly vomited blood. Goku yelled his name and tried to hurry over to his comrade, but a hand stopped him. The demon had a fist firmly in Vegeta's stomach and the other primed to fire a Ki blast at Goku's face.

"My name is Morlun, but you can call me 'executioner'."


	11. Goku's Plan

Blood spilled on the ground, making red intermingle with the ashen black that had replaced the city that had once stood. The creature once-Reborn-now-Morlun traced the green arm impaled on his chest to a broken green man, his name Piccolo if Morlun had the same memory as Reborn.

"You, the green man…" Morlun seemed to basically ignore the arm firmly planted through his sternum.

"My name is Piccolo, is that _really _so difficult to remember?"

Morlun retracted his fist from Vegeta's tortured midsection and his hand from Goku's perspiring face. The demon seemed to not even feel the projectile in his chest as he rapidly advanced on Piccolo. The Namekian retracted his arm and formed a battle stance, unhindered by the fact that even though blood poured from the wound, Morlun virtually ignored his injury.

The two instantaneously gaining speed, they each placed blows on the other in midair. Goku rushed to Vegeta, a hidden Senzu bean in his pocket, and fed it to his toppled comrade.

"Here, eat it, I took some from Korin on my way down."

Vegeta didn't reply at first, but as soon as he swallowed, he swatted Goku away and stood to both feet. Taking a place on a small uprising of rock, the Prince watched as Piccolo took beatings from the demon and retaliated with ever increasingly powerful maneuvers of his own.

"Damn…that Namekian can fight…" was the only response.

Goku smiled at the comment and watched, but only for an instant. Vegeta raised his Ki slightly and took off in a blast of gold energy. Goku followed with a surge of Ki as well. The two yelled their own distinct battle cry as they neared Morlun, the object of their own individual vengeances.

The demon had barely struck Piccolo with a backhanded fist when Goku rammed a dropkick into his torso, causing enough momentary distraction for Vegeta to come from behind and strike Morlun with a double-fisted hammer. Morlun remained airborne however and wheeled around to strike Vegeta with a backhanded fist, teleporting away to try and hammer the Prince with a hammer of his own.

But Goku vanished and reappeared where Morlun would've struck, forcing his elbow into the demon's lower jaw. Morlun, unfazed, drove his skull into Goku's, making a sickening crack as the Saiyan crashed into the Prince, sending both of them as a bundle into the ground, making a deep imprint in the slag.

Morlun raised a hand and formed a cloud of black Ki, each centimeter jumping with electric current. Pointing at his foes, Morlun somehow manipulated the cloud to release a rain of black Ki bolts in a machinegun-like manner. Goku, having barely sat up, suddenly motioned for Vegeta's arm and teleported away, holding Vegeta up by the Prince's limp wrist.

Vegeta slapped away Goku's hand in annoyance. The cloud of Ki Morlun had summoned suddenly vanished, retracted into his hand like a stream of smoke. Morlun descended, making a sudden current of Ki pass across the land in a circular pattern, wiping weak sands and rocks away. Piccolo took his footing beside Goku with Vegeta on the Saiyan's left. Their clothes were ragged: Goku's undershirt, his weighted blue gi, survived in tatters while his orange gi was somewhere in cinders. Holes dominated his pants while bloody scratches covered his face and exposed flesh. Vegeta's dark blue suit was just as torn and tattered, his gloves without covering for the fingers and his hair dotted with bloodstains. His torso was exposed through all the abuse it had taken with a bloody scar as a reminder of that. Piccolo's purple gi was missing a top part and his pant legs were torn away at the knees. All were bloody and scarred.

Morlun hopped up and down on minute bursts of Ki, all the while jarring weak sand and rock from their places and into the wind. Goku smiled. His companions both frowned as his smirk widened.

"This fight is over, Morlun, you hear me? I'll finish you off in five minutes flat."

"Goku, you're not thinking Level 3 are you?" Piccolo asked, peeling his eyes away from Morlun.

Goku merely nodded, his smile remaining. Vegeta grunted and Piccolo smiled. The two backed away to a cliff overlooking the battlefield, formed by the intense struggle from before. Goku took an obscure fighting stance.

"Now the process might take a long time, but that's because I haven't used this form in a while."

"Just do it." Morlun replied.

"Okay, Super Saiyan Level 3, coming up!"


End file.
